Preach the Word!
By Michael Klikas
19 November 2006
Adult Education Hour
2 Timothy 4:1-2
This will be the third part of our study in apologetics. Because we only have thirteen weeks we will not have enough time to cover all the verses in the Bible where the word apologia appears. So before we get started what I am going to do is give you all the places in the Bible where the word apologia appears. As we have already seen apologia appears in Acts 22:1. It also appears in Acts 25:16, 1 Corinthians 9:3, 2 Corinthians 7:11, Philippians 1:7, Philippians 1:17, 2 Timothy 4:16 which we are going to start today, and 1 Peter 3:15 which is what we kicked off our study with. If you would like to look up the word in Strongs Concordance, the number is 627 in the Greek section.
So with that said, lets now start looking into 2 Timothy Chapter four. Of course in order to understand what the context is of the verses with our word apologia we are going to have to start from verse one and read through verse seventeen.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2 Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2 Timothy 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
2 Timothy 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
2 Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:
2 Timothy 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
2 Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
2 Timothy 4:12 And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.
2 Timothy 4:13 The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.
2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2 Timothy 4:15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2 Timothy 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
2 Timothy 4:17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
Before we start to break this chapter down to help us prepare to be better apologists, we have to understand the context of the chapter because as we have continued to say, if we use scripture out of context then we are mounting an apologetical defense based on what we think is right instead of the Bible has to say. So as we have just looked over this we can determine a couple of obvious overall things. Then we will break this portion of Scripture down verse by verse in order to get to the meat of the passage so that we can learn how apply it to our lives.
This chapter basically covers the ministry and how we are to be consistent no matter what because there are going to be people who will not only forsake the Lord, but seek to cause much harm to those of us who fight to remain faithful. We are to be examples of how to stay faithful, why to stay faithful and what we can expect from those who do not stay faithful. We also see that there may be times when we give a verbal defense and no one will stand with us except the Lord. One thing to remember is one person plus the Lord is a majority. In fact no person plus the Lord is a majority. I am going to tell you this; we can expect trouble and that trouble may come from within just as much as from without. So let’s now start to break down the verses so we can apply these truths to our lives.
The first thing that we see is that Paul gives a charge to Timothy. What in the world does that mean? The word charge means to adjure which means this: To charge, bind or command on oath, or under the penalty of a curse. This is important because if you look back to the book of Galatians in chapter one Paul says something about being accursed. If you remember we talked a little bit about this in our study from 1 Peter Chapter Three. In Galatians 1:8 – 9 Paul says this.
Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
The gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is so precious and important that if it is twisted, or used for any other reason then leading people to Christ and helping them grow and change then the person or people who commit such abominations are in the sight of God accursed. So what Paul is saying is that Timothy is being adjured in the sight or witness of God and the Lord Jesus Christ that he should do something because the Lord Jesus Christ is also going to do something. Timothy as seen in verse two should preach the word because the Lord Jesus Christ is going to judge the quick and the dead. Because the Lord is going to judge the quick and the dead the responsibility has been laid upon Timothy to warn all men everywhere ecause of the fact that they are going to be judged. Before we get to seeing how Timothy should warn people, I want to take a detour again back to the Old Testament in Ezekiel Chapter thirty three once again and see something about this warning we are commanded to give. We have seen this already but it’s good to cover it again so we understand the gravity of our responsibilities.
Ezekiel 33:1 – 7
Ezekiel 33:1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 33:2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
Ezekiel 33:3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Ezekiel 33:4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
Ezekiel 33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
Ezekiel 33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
So you see that we are responsible for warning people of the impending judgment of the Lord because he is coming back to judge the quick and the dead. If we fail to warn people then their blood is on our hands, but if we warn them then we are not guilty of their blood if they should die in their sins. But who should warn them? We should warn them the same way that Timothy was to warn them. Just because this is written to a preacher by the name of Timothy doesn’t mean that we can’t apply the truth that is written to him. Every person should know how to preach. Yes that’s right, I said every person. Preaching is more then just getting up here and talking for thirty or forty five minutes. Preaching involves knowing how to pull truth from the scriptures in order to help your self and others grow and change. Preaching involves prayer not only for the message itself as you prepare it but for the hearers of the lesson. Preaching is more then talking, it is verbally presenting the word of God in the very best way you can because of how precious the Lord’s word is. I could keep going and name all that preaching is and isn’t, but that will come to you as you learn to be a better apologist. So let’s go back to 2 Timothy Chapter four and see how to warn other they way he was charged to warn other by Paul.
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Though the word preach is not our word apologia it still involves verbal communication. The Greek word for preach is:
êçñõóóù
Strongs No: 2784
Transliterated: kerusso; Pronounced: kay-roos'-so
Its definition is:
1. to be a herald, to officiate as a herald
a. to proclaim after the manner of a herald
b. always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed
2. to publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done
3. used of the public proclamation of the gospel and matters pertaining to it, made by John the Baptist, by Jesus, by the apostles and other Christian teachers
Now you are probably saying I know that but then we have to ask ourselves two questions. First, are we preaching the word of God in a way that pleases the Lord and shows the authority of God’s word or are we taking liberty with it for our own purposes? Secondly, if the word of God is being preached to us in an authoritative way are we obeying it’s authority in our life completely or are we picking and choosing when and where to obey? Preaching the word of God is exactly what you are doing when you are giving an apologia, or verbal defense of the Scriptures. How else can someone defend the word of God unless they use the word of God? The Bible is the highest authority we have and really doesn’t need to be defended to prove that it’s true. We defend the truths of the Bible in the hope that others will be converted and then they will start to grow and change because of the power and authority of God’s word. Paul then gave this charge to Timothy to preach the word but then he goes on to tell Timothy how to preach the word of God.
Notice that Paul tells Timothy two things in verse two as related to preaching the word of God. He says to be instant in season, out of season. Then he goes on to tell him what to do with the word of God and why he needs to do these things in verses three and four. Let’s first look at what it means to be instant in and out of season.
The word instant is an interesting word. I used to think that it had to do with consistency which is something that we all need in our Christian life but this word is much more powerful then that.
The Greek word is åöéóôçìé and is pronounced ef-is'-tay-mee
Strongs No: 2186
1. to place at, place upon, place over
a. to stand by, be present
b. to stand over one, place one's self above
1. used esp. of persons coming upon one suddenly
a. an angel, of the advent of angels
b. of dreams
2. of evils coming upon one
c. to be at hand
1. be ready,
d. of time
1. to come upon
a. of rain
The word of God should always be present on our lips and its importance should be placed over everything else. When used properly it is like the definition says when we read that it’s like of persons coming upon one suddenly. When you defend the truth with the truth to either a lost person or a religious person who may or may not be saved and they are given irrefutable truth it is as if they are all of a sudden overcome because they did not see what was coming. The best analogy I can give is when a quarter back drops back in the pocket to throw a pass and a defender comes from his blind side and hits him with all the force he can. The quarterback doesn’t expect it and as a result he is quickly and easily overcome by the larger stronger defender. The quarterback’s body crumbles from the severe impact once he is hit; he has no other choice but fall to the ground and possibly fumble the ball. The same thing happens when we skillfully take the word of God and verbally defend it’s truths to those who think that their religion will protect them. They think they know the truth from what they have been taught by those who are just as lost as they are. So when they come at you with their false doctrine thinking they will make you turn the tale, you instead blindside them with the truth and hit with such an impact that they crumble under the authority of the word of God. Just like the quarterback’s body, they have no other recourse but to succumb to the impact and authority of God’s word.
However, our words will have little if any impact at all on the lost and those that believe false doctrine because our words have no authority at all. So if we try to mount a defense with our own logic or our own words then we are like a gnat trying to take down an elephant. Going back to our text we see that Timothy is to preach the word and be instant, or be ready to come upon others at an instant with the word of God, but what of this next phrase of in season and out of season?
So many times we pray for the opportunity to give the gospel to others when in fact the opportunities are always there. We just don’t look for them because we may actually have to say something to someone. How come we work hard at work to make opportunities to advance our careers but we do not work hard or as hard at giving the gospel and defending the truth. We really shouldn’t pray for the opportunities unless we are willing to take advantage of the opportunities.
This phrase in season in Greek is åõêáéñùò and is pronounced yoo-kah'-ee-roce,
Strongs Number 2122 and it means this:
1. seasonably, opportunely
2. when the opportunity occurs
When does the opportunity occurs? There is our loop hole because the opportunity doesn’t always occur at least that is what we say to convince ourselves. Listen I am just as guilty as anyone else. However, when we look at our next phrase we will see that all the excuses that we have come up with holds no weight in the argument of failing to give a verbal defense. Now before we look at that next phrase, let me say this, I have heard this passage to mean that we should preach the word when it’s popular to and when it’s not popular to. The true word of God is never popular among the un-churched lost and the lost religious crowds. It also fails to be popular with the religious groups, though some may be saved who take the word of God and use it for their own purposes.
Preaching the truth has never been popular so that argument could only have some weight to it in the church itself, and it may not even be supported one hundred percent because of the time because of the fact that there are lost people in churches across the USA and through out the world. So let’s see what this word means and how it applies to our study on apologetics.
The phrase out of season in Greek is áêáéñùïò and is pronounced ak-ah'-ee-roce, Strongs Number 171.
Unseasonable sounds unreasonable. I mean who wants to confront someone who is going to oppose the gospel and mount their own defense? You mean even when the opportunities are unseasonable or not really set in the perfect setting I have to preach the word? Unseasonable sounds uncomfortable. I like to sip a cup of coffee and have the people that I am witnessing to or defending the truths of the Bible to sit around with me drinking their coffee too and we are all getting along so well. Okay, the dream is over and it’s time to wake up to reality.
Even after September 11, 2001 it was not seasonable to give the gospel because people were still lost in their idolatry and didn’t want to hear that God is sovereign and that everyone must stand before him and give an account for their life. There was a lot of religious sentiment in the air but that’s all it was. You have seen how quickly that dissipated. While their may been more of an openness to listen to the gospel, the opportunities didn’t increase or decrease because they are there every day. Regardless of the fact that people do not want to hear the gospel, we must give the gospel to the lost. Why do we have to preach the gospel regardless of the fact that people do not want to hear it, because we are commanded to and all we should be concerned about is obedience.
God does open the door to opportunities but that door is open through the gospel. However, if the opportunity presents itself and we do not take it what good will the opportunity do? Can someone get saved or grow and change by opportunity or by the gospel? We treat the word opportunity like the word potential. The outlet in the wall presents the potential to give power to a light bulb through a lamp, but if the lamp is never plugged in, all we have is potential and we are still in the dark. Can someone who believes in false doctrine be exposed to the truth by opportunity? Unless you open the word of God and show that person, the opportunity to do so will never change them.
As I have said before, the word apologia is not in this verse, but this verse is vital to our growth as an apologist. The reason it’s vital is because we see five elements in this verse that need to be present in our life if we are to be successful in giving an apologetical argument. So let’s look at these five things and see how we can apply them to our life so that we can become a better apologist for the Lord. The first word we come across is reprove. Why is reproving so vital in being the type of apologist that the Lord wants us to be?
Notice the definition of reprove.
Reprove: åëåã÷ù Pronounced: el-eg'-kho
Strongs No: 1651
1. to convict, refute, confute
a. generally with a suggestion of shame of the person convicted
b. by conviction to bring to the light, to expose
2. to find fault with, correct
a. by word
1. to reprehend severely, chide, admonish, reprove
2. to call to account, show one his fault, demand an explanation
b. by deed
1. to chasten, to punish
From this definition of reprove we can see how vital it is to use the word of God in apologetics instead of our opinion and that despite the fact that people do not want to hear the truth, we must refute their false doctrine with the truth of the gospel. The second part of this definition has to do with finding fault. There is a difference between finding fault to show someone their own faulty thinking when it comes to biblical doctrine and it is another thing to find fault with someone when you want to belittle them or embarrass them because you have an issue with them. When someone lovingly but in a stern way points out faulty thinking and then shows the other person the truth from the Bible then that type of chastening is done in a loving way. Remember that arguing or yelling is not mounting a verbal defense. Let’s then think about this. A person believes that that the Lord Jesus Christ is not God. How do you refute that knowing that you are to preach the word and be instant in season and out of season by first reproving them as our passage teaches?
What you need to do is study and pray first before you confront them if you know ahead of time what you are going to confront them over. If it’s a door step encounter then you just need to be ready as we have already learned in 1 Peter chapter three. While you are confronting them you need to be praying. Do you try to show them passages that they used over and over again, albeit out of context, or do you blind side them with scripture they have overlooked because they know they would have to admit that they are wrong and God is right. Notice that I said that God is right.
So you take them to passages like Isaiah 43:10 & 11 and show them the context of John 10:30 and other such passages. By the way, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons are not the only so called Christian religions that do not believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. You really don’t need to know who does or doesn’t as long as you know the word of God because then you can reprove any false teaching at any time that denies the deity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The next word that we are going to look at is the word rebuke.
Rebuke: åðéôéìáïù Pronounced: ep-ee-tee-mah'-o
Strongs No: 2008
1. to show honour to, to honour
2. to raise the price of
3. to adjudge, award, in the sense of merited penalty
4. to tax with fault, rate, chide, rebuke, reprove, censure severely
a. to admonish or charge sharply
Our first word has the meaning of finding fault. This word then moves from finding fault to admonishing them sharply. That means we move from pointing out the fault to counseling them and helping them grow and change. What we are doing is we are helping someone see the error of their thinking through the word of God and then showing them how to change their thinking so that they can please the Lord. As you know, this was written to Timothy who was a preacher and so as a pastor, a deacon, and a saved church member you have to deal with both the saved and the lost in a congregation. I hate to break the news to you but not everyone who goes to church is saved. Even if they go to a Baptist church!
It may be that in the course of dealing with a person that you discover that they are not saved. You have to switch gears just a little and focus on their need of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that they need to be saved or face the eternal consequences of hell. It may be that on any given Sunday people who are lost come to church as visitors and you may be called on to confront them in their sin. So I understand the context of this passage but our application is still the same. You never know who you will be talking to or who may be listening so you have preach the word of God wholly without wavering because you have no idea who it will reach and in what way. This is true in the home as well. While we need to teach our children about the Lord Jesus Christ, we also need to point out their sin and show them what it looks like to the Lord. Then when they come to the point of understanding that’s when we need to point them to the gospel. However, admonishing someone should always be done in a loving way regardless of who they are. Whether we are confronting someone we have just met, confronting a family member, or confronting a church member we should not treat them any differently with the word of God. With that said we are going to look at the next word we are to incorporate into dealing with people in an apologetical way next week.